WhatAnArtist!

Assuming that in this timeline Ser Stafford Lannister still dies at Oxcross, that still leaves Ser Devan Lannister to take command in the westerlands. Since he was later made the Warden of the West by Cersei in Feast, it's not far-fetched to imagine that he'd be an acceptable choice to take charge of the westerlands should there be no other Lannisters available. He seemed to do a decent enough job in Feast (though granted at that time the war was all but over).

Yeah that's what I meant. Obviously the Freys get plenty of hate for their involvement in the Red Wedding, and even the Lannisters to a lesser extent, but I was curious about how the Boltons are viewed, and if it's common knowledge that Roose was involved with it. That'd severely hurt his chances of pacifying the North, if that's the case.

I just reread the chapter where Dany rejects him, and I really felt bad for Quentyn. I could relate to him somewhat. The fact that Dany even thought how much hotter one of his companions was, and that she wishes he was the prince instead, was both hilarious and pitiable.

I don't know if this would have helped much, since Astapor rose up again after she left. What she needed to was conquer it - take the city, kill or expel the slavers, station some Unsullied and sellswords in the city, and add it to her little empire in Slaver's Bay. If all three cities were controlled by her and her soldiers, she'd be in a much better situation. Dany's problem was that she didn't fully commit - she needed to embrace being a Targaryen and emulate Aegon by conquering enough to make her too powerful to dislodge. Simply taking Meereen wasn't enough, she needed all three cities if she wanted to be self-sustaining.

With my current reread of Dance, I'll put forward the suggestion of Dany's "plan" to rule Meereen, which seems to boil down to "If I'm a really nice person maybe they'll just leave me alone". She receives good advice from several people around her - Barristan urges her to send the army out to fight their enemies in the field because they don't have the food to survive a siege, Daario urges her to massacre the slaver families after luring them in so she has no enemies inside the city, Skahaz urges her not to marry Hizdahr because he is almost certainly one of the Sons of the Harpy; a few people urge her to unleash her dragons on her enemies like a true Targaryen would have, since they're her best tool; even King Cleon urges her to join with him to help take down Yunkai, their common foe who has been plotting against them the whole time. She ignores all of it, because it would violate her plan on being "a really nice person" and just sitting in her Pyramid and sort of.... hoping it all just goes away...? I don't even know if it can be called a plan. She rejects every single proposed plan that could have put her in a better situation, and her own "plan" seems to be to throw away every possible advantage she has and instead severely expose herself and her people to danger from all sides because she wasn't willing to make the hard choices. Being all nice and diplomatic and patient might work if you're in the shoes of someone like Doran Martell or Rodrik Harlaw, but it doesn't work when you're surrounded by enemies in the most hostile place in the known world as Slaver's Bay is.

Does anyone know that it was Roose Bolton that killed Robb Stark? I know Martin described him as wearing his armour when he did it, but does that mean he was wearing a helmet too, to obscure his face?

Marry Viserys I (apparently very kind and easy-going) Bang Viserys II (apparently attractive in his youth, and otherwise a smart and normal guy) Kill the Beggar King (a psycho) Warrior Women Edition: Brienne of Tarth, Dacey Mormont, Asha Greyjoy

My head-canon says that this musician had secret Stark sympathies, and was doing this as a tiny bit of personal retribution for the Red Wedding.

What happened to the bodies of the dead Targaryens after the Rebellion? Were they given a proper burial? Cremated? I'm sure it's been mentioned in the books, but if so I've forgotten what was said.

A lot of people are still - understandably - in the "denial" stage. It'll take a long time before everyone gets to "acceptance".

I would have thought that Martin would have an instinctive aversion to collaborating on projects with HBO after GoT, but apparently not. Very disappointing.

It should be released in whatever format is necessary for the book to actually be released. I don't care how it's released, I just want it to be released. But all of this is pointless theorising, because we don't even know when it will be released. For all we know it could be another five years.

I think her story will conclude with whatever happens with Stoneheart and the Brotherhood in tWoW. If I had to guess, and I was being optimistic, she'll kill Stoneheart in an attempt to save Jaime at the last minute, and possibly die while doing so. It would be a sad but satisfying end to her character-arc and relationship with Jaime. Worst case scenario, she was really hanged by Stoneheart at the end of Feast and is another resurrected... thing, doing the vengeful bidding of Stoneheart. I really hope that isn't the case, since I love Brienne and don't want her to have such a horrible fate. It would be a final gut punch after her already depressing storyline of Feast. I don't want Brienne to kill Stannis like the show. That wasn't satisfying in the slightest from either a character or thematic perspective. No one cares about Brienne's desire for """"justice"""" for her murdered husbandfu Renly, a traitor and fool. Brienne's character arc will be completed with Jaime and Catelyn/Stoneheart, not Stannis. Plus, I feel like Brienne's worldview and attitude changed a lot from ACoK to AFfC - in the former, she's entirely obsessed with serving and worshipping Renly, a spoiled, arrogant brat with a huge ego, but by the end of Feast she seems to have realised that the true path of honour wasn't serving a (false) king, but defending the common folk, a far more respectable goal.

I haven't read all of these replies, but here's my thoughts on the idea of Bran becoming king: I simply can't see it happening. It wouldn't feel right, or feel in-line with everything Martin has written about him for 25 years. From the very first book, and increasingly so with each passing one, the books have hinted that Bran's destiny is something far more unusual and other-wordly than sitting on a throne and running a kingdom. Like, I'd go so far as to say that it would feel more fitting for Bran to "transcend" into some kind of god or spirit. Any fool can be a king - the series has shown that repeatedly. But only Bran can do what he's doing. It would be one of the biggest cop-outs in fantasy history if Bran just ends up being a mere king. It just wouldn't feel right. He's meant to do something far greater and more distinctive. I just know it.